Ramble Coffee is a single-origin, Fair-Trade, Certified Organic focused roaster from Ohio that is very conscious of the coffee's impact on the community and environment it comes from. Guatemala Huehuetenango perfectly embodies that coming from a sustainable community development program designed to support in the production and marketing of organic coffee while being environmentally responsible, and making it easier for these farms to enter more favorable markets for the growers. This washed coffee is described as having notes of red fruits, almonds, and yellow plum.
Blooming with 3x ground coffee weight or about 60 grams of water for a 20 gram dose.
When brewed, it required a fine-ish grind and a nice even extraction to promote a nice balanced cup of coffee. Sweet, good body, and nice lingering, but not drying or overly acidic finish. I found I was best able to achieve this when brewing the coffee at:
- 1 : 16 ratio (20 grams to 320 grams) in the Hario V60 using 203*F water
- 3x dry coffee weight bloom, stirred, 35 seconds
- Continuous pouring to about 280 grams, stir, continuing pouring to final yield and swirl brewer.
- 2:30 - 2:45 total brew time.
The bloom, pre-agitation to make sure all the grounds are wet.
As espresso, the coffee again required a fine grind and a bit of updosing in an 18 gram VST basket. This coffee was easy to underextract and got weak and thin when yields were pushed too far, so slower and tighter it was.
- 18.5 grams in an 18 gram VST basket - this did not seem to overfill the basket at all.
- 33 grams out
- 28 - 30 seconds
I don't know if the roast wasn't quite developed enough for espresso, or if it was just better brewed, but I did find a lot of shots to definitely be on the bright and in your face third wave style, with higher acidity. I would have liked to see these shots be a little more balanced, but I think this is more attributed to the roast profile or the coffee than the parameters being that it remained consistent when changing variables. I don't want this to sound bad, but do want to be clear that if you lean more comfort blend or traditional, this is probably not a good espresso for you.
dense and intense. Pulling shots short and tight kept the espresso more balanced, but it was still quite in your face.
The coffee did okay in small amounts of milk, I made a macchiato that held up fairly well with present acidity and a sweeter, nutty profile. I think it could hold up to a slightly larger milk drink, but did find this coffee really did best when brewed. I think it would make for a great Aeropress as well.
Guatemala Huehuetenango is available for just $15.00 for a 12 ounce bag with free shipping on orders over $25.